Newark Man Arrested in Deadly Downtown Shooting

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Newark, N.J. police have arrested a 23-year-old man in the double shooting last Thursday that left a woman dead and another man hospitalized with a gunshot wound.

Kyron Washington, 23, of Newark, has been charged with the murder of Arlene Fields, 42, of East Orange, acting Essex County prosecutor Carolyn Murray said Monday.

He was also charged with attempted murder in the shooting of the 31-year-old man, along with several weapons offenses.

Fields was shot in the back at about 8:30 p.m. at 799 Broad St., about 500 feet from Branford Place. The 31-year-old man was shot in the buttocks and approached a police officer for help.

Emergency responders rushed the two to University Hospital, where Fields was pronounced dead. The man was listed in stable condition after undergoing surgery.

The prosecutor's office confirmed Monday investigators' initial belief that the shooting was an isolated narcotics-related incident and that Fields was not the intended target.

Washington was identified as the shooter within 18 hours of the shooting, and he was apprehended by police Monday at about 11 a.m. without incident in a Newark apartment, according to the prosecutor's office.

He is expected to make his first court appearance later this week. Bail has been set at $750,000.

Washington did not have an attorney as of Monday, the prosecutor's office said.